attempt to close the door on the campaign season of 2012 and if he follows the terms look forward to the new term with anticipation and optimism. >> here on the path of this new day, you may have the grace to look up and out and into your sister's eyes. and into your brother's face. your country and say simply, very simply, with hope. good morning. >> we know what we have done and what we have said. how we have grown degree by slow degree, believing ourselves towards all we have tried to become. just and compassionate, equal, able and free.

>> in today's sharp sparkle, this winter air. anything can be made. any sentence begun. on the brink, on the brim, on the cusp, praise song for walking forward in that light. >> those who say that we're in a time when there are no heroes, they just don't know where to look. >> our challenges are great, but our will is greater. >> there is nothing wrong with america that cannot be cured by what is right with america. >> the united states will not ignore your oppression or excuse your oppressors. >> all are equal, all are free and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.

we're across from the white house where president obama is getting ready to take the oath of office. and here on the national mall, everything is in place for a huge party and all of america is invited. a president who broke barriers and inspired the nation four years ago now begins a second term. a second chance to restore hope and bring change. >> despite all the hardship we've been through, despite all the frustrations of washington. i've never been more hopeful about our future. and i ask you to sustain that hope. >> the pomp, the parade, the inaugural balls will come tomorrow, but this is the day that truly mattered. when the president must raise his hand and swear to protect and defend the constitution.

>> so help you god? >> so help me god. we're here in the heart of washington, d.c., with spectacular views of the u.s. capitol and the national mall. a two-day inaugural event is getting under way in this city, beginning here at the white house. we want to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzer. the presidential reviewing stand is in place for the inaugural parade. right now inside the white house, president obama is about to officially begin his second term. we're counting down to today's swearing in ceremony in the blue room les than an hour from now. we're looking ahead to all the festivities tomorrow. let's go to the national mall right now. cnn's anderson cooper is standing by. anderson? >> wolf, thanks very much. it is a glorious day out here. hundreds of thousands of people are expected to gather here

tomorrow for the public inauguration ceremony. we, of course, will bring all of that to you live. president obama will take his place on stage in front of the capital and take the oath of office, again, and deliver his inaugural address. only minutes left to go in president obama's first term. we have a new snapshot of the way americans view the country right now. john king is here with his magic wall. what do you see? >> as the president prepares to take that oath, are the american people with him as he heads into a second term? how do they feel about this? our brand-new poll shows this, people think things are going well in the country. 51% say badly. you see a divided country here and you think, wow, that is not a bad number for the president. when he took office, remember the finance crisis. as the president takes his oath for the second term. this is the high water mark. haf of americans think things are going well. >> let's go to wolf. >> thanks, anderson.

kate balduan is with us today. why the president is doing this today and tomorrow. >> i got this question from many people. this decision was made because this official inauguration date, january 20th falls on a sunday. the constitution requires the president to take the oath today. all the public festaveties are being saved for tradition. >> you're watching what's going on carefully behind us. that's the reviewing stand. the president and the first lady and the vice president, the second lady. they'll be there tomorrow watching the parades come towards the white house. right now, in the north lawn of the white house behind us, the president will be getting ready to be sworn in in the blue room. >> that's right. wolf, today is the official day when he becomes the president for a second term. let me walk you through exactly what will happen because this is a day of great moment and a day we acknowledge what our democracy is all about. first, the president will be in the blue room. the whole event will take place

there. it's an oval shaped receiving room for formal events. it's on the first floor of the white house. of the main residence. now, the guests will already be in place. there are a few family friends and members of the president's extended family, as well as chief justice john roberts. at 11:55 in the morning president obama will enter the room along with first lady and their daughters, sasha and milia. the first lady's father gave that bible to his own mother in 1958 and the first lady's grandmother used it for many years and it's now been handed down to the next generation. so, it's very sentimental in their family. now, the chief justice will administer the 35-word oath. that's spelled out in article 2, section 1 of the constitution, as you know. >> hope he does a better job this time. >> oh, that man is never going to live it down. >> that was a mess up that will go down in history and the oath

has to be taken before noon. as it's spelled out in the constitution, as well. now, you referred to the mess up last time. john roberts, the chief justice, made that mistake at the first inaugural. so, this, he had to do a redo. that redo last time was in the map room of the white house, not the blue room. this is the third time president obama will have taken the oath. the only president since fdr who has taken the oath four times. but fdr served four terms. >> he'll do it again tomorrow. >> little bit of insight the president and the white house were concerned when the health care ruling went before john roberts because maybe a little tension after the oath redo and maybe he would hold it against them, anyway, it worked out in their favor. >> coming up later this hour. kate, this is an exciting moment for all of us who love history. >> very exciting moment and it's beautiful, it's really amazing to see the structures they

erected before us as well as on the mall. president obama was joined by vice president biden in arlington national cemetery to lay a wreath at the tomb of the unknowns. after the vice president had taken his oath in a ceremony this morning at his residence at the naval observatory. one thing that stuck out to me watching that, how big that bible was. it was five inches thick. it's been in his family for many, many years. >> anderson, we're getting excited over here at the white house. what is it like over there on the national mall? >> well, crowds kind of coming and going. small numbers of people just kind of walking around. streets are starting to be blocked off around the national mall in anticipation of tomorrow. a lot has happened on president obama's watch, though, during his first term in office. that's, of course, about to end. john berman is here to show us the president's first four years. take a look. >> the president has been in office for 1,461 days. a lot of highs and a lot of lows. in case you missed any of it, we

tried to wrap it all up or most of it, at least, in just four minutes. it starts here. january 20th, 2009. screaming crowds, soaring hopes, towering expectations. what could possibly go wrong, exception the inauguration. >> i barack hussein obama -- >> first year, major action. big stimulus, big bailout, big appointment, big smack. now, where were we? >> reporter: to ease racial tension. he doesn't invite the salahi's to state dinner. chicago loses the olympics. the nation loses an icon. the president wins a peace prize. year two, state of the union, big speech, national audience. what could possibly go wrong?

congressman joe wilson doesn't like the president's health care pitch. justice samuel alito doesn't like his campaign finance ideas. vice president gets fresh. kagan in, rahm out, banking reform in, don't ask, don't tell out. republicans in, democrats out. >> take a shellacking like i did last night. >> where were we? >> we were here, 2011. tunisia turmoil, libya turmoil, bahrain turmoil, egypt turmoil. >> an orderly transition must begin now. >> turns out president was born in america and turns out the president can crack a joke. >> i am releasing my official birth video. ♪ >> that very same weekend, closure.

>> the united states has conducted an operation that killed osama bin laden, the leader of al qaeda. >> a summer showdown. budget brinksmanship. that never happens. a down grade for the economy. >> america's credit rating gets a downgrade. >> now, where were we? >> we were here, 2012. election year. what could possibly go wrong? ♪ i'm so in love with you >> how big a deal that the president sings? is it true he has a good voice? ♪ so in love with you >> major developments. >> i think same-sex couples should be able to get married. >> supreme court holds obama care is constitutional. democrats hold convention, obama holds clinton. campaign push, presidential

debate, presidential dud. >> now four years later, we still have trillion dollar deficits. >> presidential improvement. >> i don't look at my pension, it isn't as big as yours. it doesn't take as long. >> presidential victory. a time to look back at sports teams, disaster, promises kept, most troops out of iraq, sports teams, disaster. upheaval, khaddifi dead. sports teams, sports teams, promises broken. guantanamo still open. disaster, tragedy. ft. hood, tucson. >> our hearts are broken by their sudden passing. >> colorado, newtown. >> for those of us who remain, let us find the strength to carry on and make our country worthy of their memory. >> fiscal debate, fiscal discord, fiscal destiny. sports teams, sports teams,

sports teams. >> now, where were we? >> we were here. just about to start, again. >> i barack hussein obama, do solemnly swear. >> so, four more years. that's another 1,461 days. what could possibly go wrong, right? well, it is another chance to make history and a chance for more sports teams. anderson? >> john, thanks very much. four years in four minutes. i'm exhausted after watching that. let's talk about biggest accomplishments and biggest failures. david gergen, what do you think in terms of biggest accomplishment and biggest failure? >> one of the biggest accomplishments was to get re-ele re-elected. our great presidents have been people who had two terms because over eight years you can do a lot more than you can in the first term. within this first term i think he rightly claims that he is the first president after seven failed to get universal health

care passed and now in his second term, he can embed that within the system and that will be part of his legacy. but i can't tell you to come back to this, anderson, how important it was for them to win re-election because they knew the legacy, his place in history would hinge on that. >> in terms of biggest disappointment? >> biggest disappointment how polarizing the city remains, how difficult it is to govern the dysfunctionality has not left and i think that's causing some of the suspense about these couple of days. how is this, is this going to change anything or is it going it be more rhetorical? >> history professor and author. >> i think the biggest accomplishment and biggest disappointment were two sides of the coin. the economy did not go into full-blown depression. the biggest disappointment, it did not improve more than half. it's, i second what david gergen says, it's astonishing that he was re-elected given the state

of the economy and it really does mean that such things as the affordable care act are going to remain in place for four years. really controversial now, but after four years of getting used to it, americans, i think, will decide, let's keep it. >> alex i did not get the memo about a blue suit and red tie. look like a quartet. >> what do you think? >> i agree that i think the biggest accomplishment is that he forestalled a crisis, but he forestalled it by spreading it out and we're back in the '30s now. this is fdr. this is going to be economic stagnation and a depression that won't end. but i think an accomplishment, just to add something a little different, that he has finally destroyed the old republican party and we've hit rock bottom and, so, out of this, we will either emerge with something new

and better that speaks of the next generation of voters or we will pass into the dust pan of history. >> you think the republican party has hit rock bottom? >> every republican i talk to tell me the same thing. i know we have to change, i know we have to do something. but i don't know if anybody else gets it. so, i think we're there. >> a lot has win hit on. on the accomplishment side, just to follow up on your point. he has been a dragon slayer. the nra, grover norquist, karl rove, we used to quiver in fear just the names. he has been able to put them in check. that is a big accomplishment on the political side. big disappointment. climate. when you have sandy come through and do what it did to new york city and you have a dust ball forming in our heartland and wildfires and no action on climate. that is a big disappointment. he has to do something. he has a rainbow coalition but a green stripe that has not been attended to. >> you know, anderson, what's

interesting to me about what alex said is that the republican party is now at a 26% approval rating. that's not good. while the public is much more pessimistic than it was four years ago about president obama, the republican party has to do something. this works for the president. the republican party is divided. maybe he can pick off a bunch of republicans and, so, as he heads into his second term, he has a very, very big agenda, very ambitious, maybe overreaching a little bit, but it's in the republican self-interest to work with him. as we look ahead, you're making a face at me. maybe that's because you shaved your mustache and i'm seeing your upper lip. don't you think there's a need for republicans now to work with him to a degree? >> i think there's a need for republicans to compete for social responsibility and offer a different vision for the country and, in that sense, work with the president. but i'm not sure it's in the president's political interest to work with republicans. in two years he's got an

election. in two years he has that same awesome machine he just had that helped him get elected president. he can use that, possibly, to win the house. he'd run, he could run the tables. and this is his opportunity to keep republicans divided. i wouldn't be surprised if he just kept campaigning for the next two years. >> a lot of promises were made four years ago. a lot of promises not kept. a lot were. john, can you take a look. >> not always fair to judge a president that way. if you're president or worked in the white house, circumstances change, new things arise, new crises, new challenges. one way to judge a president, as he enters his second term to look at what he said when he began his first. one of the parts of the first inaugural address that drew some criticism. people thought the president was being too lofty or full of himself. we will harness the suns and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. but let's get to the specifics of it. to van's point, we haven't done anything on climate change and not much done on full energy

policy because of not only republicans and democrat disagreements but regional disagreements in the country. incomplete. this is a line in the speech that was often criticized. here's another one. a defining moment of the speech. trying to outline what an obama presidency would be. the question we ask today, is not whether our government is too big or too small but whether it works. whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage. and also the idea of whether families find a job at a decent wage. unemployment is down from the peak at the first term. but unemployment rate today, at exactly the same point when the president took office four years ago. that remains a challenge as you head into the next term. looking at the world four years ago, the president said this. we'll begin to responsibly leave iraq and with old friends and former foes we'll work

tirelessly to lessen the nuclear threat and roll back the specter of a warming he's in the process of getting troops out of afghanistan, a debate whether it will be at peace or not. getting those troops home by 2014. on the bottom part here, you have to say incomplete or false in the sense of the nuclear threat, especially when it comes to iran that looms as a huge second-term challenge. it's one way. but you can read the first inaugural address and see what did he promise then? complete or incomplete? medicare, social security, deficits, taxes, spending. so, a lot of the things he talked about in the first speech, still with him in the second. >> we're going to talk about a lot more ahead. go live to the white house in just minutes to actually see the president renew his oath of office and, again, his second term. stick with us. also, we'll bring you a candid look at the first family's daily life. first lady has a new agenda. first, this inaugural flashback.

>> obama! >> thank you. >> obama! >> thank you. >> there was a magic to the inaugural day for president obama. the first african-american to be president, as if the whole history of our country was coming full circle with the ending of slivery and now the first african-american president. >> the man whose father less than 60 years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath. >> the crowds were reveling in that spirit. 1.8 million than have ever been there before. just the idea that we have come this far as a nation. a sense of unity and a sense of pride. i think in our country that this was finally happening. let's go. ♪

♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] introducing the all-new cadillac xts... another big night on the town, eh? ...and the return of life lived large. ♪ [ male announcer ] how do you turn an entrepreneur's dream... ♪ into a scooter that talks to the cloud? ♪ or turn 30-million artifacts... ♪ into a high-tech masterpiece? ♪ whatever your business challenge, dell has the technology and services to help you solve it.

♪ come together right now >> as we continue counting down to the president's official swearing in in just about 30 minutes now. you'll see it live here at the white house. we're also taking a closer look at part of last noit's children's concert. a lot of fun. usher, katy perry, cast members of "glee" were also there. the first lady michelle obama helped organize it as a tribute to u.s. military families. we watched it, it was lovely. >> it was lovely and it also was for a very good cause to honor military families. very fun to be there with you. michelle obama has sure gone through an incredible transformation in the last four

years from a candidate's wife to a beloved first lady. now, she faces a bigger challenge. raising teenagers in the white house. here's cnn correspondent brianna keil keilar. that is no small feat. >> living here at the white house could be a challenge. if you were to ask first lady michelle obama of what her biggest accomplishment of the last four years has been, she may tell you it has been providing a sense of normalcy for her family. the last girls' night out of the first term. mrs. obama and her daughters sasha and malia attended the children's concert. an event put together at the request of the first lady for kids with parents in the military. >> when i think about who we are. when i think about what makes america great, i think about all of you, our men and women in uniform, our military spouses and our amazing military kids. >> working with military families, fighting childhood

obesity and mentoring at-risk kids in washington, d.c., were the signature causes of mrs. obama's first term in the white house. cnn has learned she has been working on a second-term agenda since december and she may pick up a new cause. valerie jarrett, a top adviser to the president, a long-time friend to the first couple. >> she will take on issues that she cares passionately about. she wants to make sure her heart is in it and she can give it the energy she deserves. >> reporter: but the first lady's top priority is her family. >> at the end of the day, my most important title is still mom in chief. my daughters are still the heart of my heart. and the center of my world. >> living in the most famous house in the world, the obamas have tried to stay grounded. >> i always tell my friends that i still recognize them.

they haven't become some other crazy kids. >> reporter: they have some help from the first lady's mother who lives on the third floor of the white house and they keep a daily routine. mrs. obama is up early, sometimes 4:30 a.m. letting bo out and hitting the gym before her daughters wake up. the president starts working out before she wraps up. the girls head off to class and the president walks to the oval office around 8:30. almost every night, the family gathers for dinner together at 6:30 p.m. >> they're not in the least bit interested in his day. they're interested in their day and that's such a relief to have those quality moments. >> reporter: it's family time until the girls and mrs. obama go to bed around 9:30. the president, a night owl, stays up working and reading, taking bo outside one last time before he turns in, normally after midnight. >> now, as many of you know, my husband, your president, he is

handsome. >> reporter: the first couple carves out time for each other. >> got to keep the romance alive. even in the white house. >> reporter: that means dates and dinners out with friends like they did thursday for the first lady's birthday, visiting one of washington's top restaurants. they're notorious for being affectiont, puckering up for the jumbotron at a basketball game this summer. and this photo of them hugging put out by the obama campaign on election night is the most retweet eed photo in history. >> i rarely step foot in the west wing. in fact, people are shocked when they see me there. >> reporter: while mrs. obama mostly steers clear of policy debates, she was a huge asset to the president on the campaign trail last year. from the stump to late night television. >> let's go!

get your shoes on! move it, move it! >> all right, okay. >> you can do it! go and vote! >> all right. >> and eat some carrots. >> reporter: but michelle obama says she's a part-time first lady and a full-time parent. normally dedicating only two to three days a week to official event. a former top aide to the first lady. >> there might be some days that we would do day trips traveling around their school schedule so she could get them out the door in the morning and be back in time for dinner. >> reporter: as parents, the obamas are very involved. this is president obama taking a moment out of his work day to bring sasha upstairs to the residence. in the obama white house there is structure and chores. sasha and malia are limited to two hours of tv per week, no social media. >> i'd worry about facebook right now only because, look, i know the folks at facebook, obviously, they've

revolutionized, you know, the social networks. but, you know, malia because she is well known, you know, i'm very keen on protecting her privacy. she can make her own decisions later as she gets older. but right now, even just for security reasons, you know, she doesn't have a facebook page. you know, dates. that's fine, because she's got secret service protection. >> and malia also does her own laundry. >> i don't want her to be 15, 16 and be that kid who says, i have never done laundry before. i would cringe if she became that kid. >> sasha and malia, before our very eyes you're growing up to become two strong, smart, beautiful young women. >> reporter: the obamas have relished sharing their adventures with their kids. traveling to france and russia where they toured the kremlin

and ate dinner above red square to brazil, el salvador and chile and south africa where they met nelson mandela. extraordinary experiences but sometimes being an obama daughter is no different than being any other kid. your dad can still embarrass you, as the president did by dancing at this white house event and by busting moves from this catchy dance. ♪ far from the cameras, of course, something he says just to get his daughters going. now, four more years in the white house will bring some milestones for the obamas as parents. soon, they will have not one, but two teenagers in the white house and soon malia will be old enough to drive, apply to colleges and, yes, even date. anderson. >> thanks so much. fascinating look at how much they have grown just over the

last four years. with us now is someone who has worked closely with michelle obama, former press secretary, you saw her in that piece. katie mccormack, thank you for being with us. >> nice to be here. >> often we forget that they are a family and trying to spend family time together. how is the famipresident able t that? >> they do live above the store. he is able to walk to work. when the girls get home from school, they are able to go visit him. that is sort of sacred space between the oval office and their home. you forget the white house is an office, a home, a museum, it's all happening at once but people are respectful of their family space. it used to be he traveled so much and when he was in springfield for the senate, so, now that they're in one place i think it's a particularly special time. >> michelle obama says she doesn't go into the west wing very often. i mean, what role does she play in terms of policy? she must discuss things with the president, obviously.

>> well, sure. we would often say she is where policy and people intersect. we spent a lot of time getting out into communities as opposed to staying in d.c., where she would have the opportunity to meet with people, parents, teachers, military families, learn what's going on in their lives and bring that back to d.c. so that she could help contribute to and ensure what the president is working on is in line with what people really need. she's not sitting around the table as the policy, but she's not a senior adviser, she's his wife and she's deeply committed to what she's working on. >> you looked at families growing up in the white house before. how does her role differ or similar from other first ladies? >> obviously, a great deal of influence with your spouse. the president of the united states. nobody elected you. voters are aware of that. sometimes first ladies can push theirs husbands further than the husbands want to go. eleanor roosevelt did this. she became a liberal spokesperson for the roosevelt family. when franklin roosevelt couldn't go as far as he wanted to, he

would say, listen to my wife and that's where my heart lies. in another case where it can backfire hillary clinton in the first clinton administration. >> a crucial role michelle obama played giving that speech which was very well received. >> she helps to humanize him and provide that behind had scenes look at who he is and what he's trying to accomplish. she can relate to people on a level of shared experiences. she's a working woman. she understands raising kids and juggling work and family. and when people can hear from her in that sort of long form format and really have that conversation with her, it really electroifies the room and i think that's what helped changed the dialogue in 2008. >> in that speech that she gave at the convention, i think people forgot, you know, democrats were really a little bit down. she got out there and when she spoke, that wasn't just one of the best speeches of a first

lady, that was one of the best speeches in american politics in the past four years. extraordinary speech because it was so human. >> as we continue to count down to the president's official swearing in, which will be taking place, the official inauguration. we have a new poll showing americans are split on how things are going in this country. john king has the numbers for us. >> anderson, i'll take a walk over and a lot of people say we spend too much attention on polling and sometimes that's true. how the public feels about the president as he begins his firm especially with divided government. will determine if he can get a lot of things done. 49% say things are going well. you may look at a divided country and say that's not so bad for the president. it is the high point, remember the financial crisis when he took office back in 2009. we have seen it mostly go up a little dip. 49% of americans think things in the country are doing well. in terms of second term presidents, though, the numbers aren't so great. this is when ronald reagan

started his second term and bill cl clinton here up at 60%. a low point in terms of his three most recent predecessor as a two-term president. but a high point for this president. if you look at this here, this goes back through the carter presidency and george h.w. bush presidency and you see, again, a low mark for any president in modern time. thinks things in the country are going well, but better for him if you look at the obama presidency here. now, here's a question here. what kind of president will the president obama be in his second term? 54%, majority of americans think he is above average or outstanding. that is a good number for the president. but you see, again, just over 40% of americans say he is below average or poor. a partisan divide and this shows you why. the american people, look at that number. 76% of americans think the country is more deeply divided than in the past. unity bringing people together and getting the government to work is a big challenge of the president's second inaugural

address. 70% of americans are hopeful that the president's policies would succeed in a second term. 26% say they hope the president fails in his second term from a policy agenda and if you look at this as it plays out, again, look at the partisan divide. almost every democrat says they hope the president succeeds and most independents do. only 40% of republicans, wolf, as we begin the second obama term. the president takes his oath in a private ceremony today and then addresses the american people and the world tomorrow. try to change the dynamic maybe to get a little more republicans out in the country to say, let's give the guy a second chance as he begins his second term. >> john king, thanks very much. we're joined now by a top member of the president re-election campaign. stephanie cutter is with us. only 15 minutes away from the ceremony. we'll see it live here on cnn. we're excited about that. the chief justice will be swearing in the president for a second term. i don't know if you saw the "new york times" article about the

obamas but a fascinating article. the obamas are becoming seasoned professionals instead of newcomers and more conventional with a contracted sense of possibility. do you accept that? >> well, i think that the point she's making there is that four years ago this was a young family moving to washington from illinois. you know, he had been in politics for a long time, but really changed from outside washington, not change from inside washington. and, you know, there's a learning process for anybody to be president. god knows you can't walk in on day one and know exactly how you're going to move the country forward. it's been a learning process and i think the president and the first lady are, you know, are excited about the next four years in terms of the things that they want to get done, how, you know, we're having a legacy conference right now just down the street with thousands of grassroots organizers who helped re-elect the president to figure out how to achieve this image. >> does he need to invent himself into a second term give

on the fact he learned a lot the last four years and now a reality with the second four years. >> this is a continuing process. there is no reinvention. i think he learned a lot over the past four years and how to get things done. you can see that reflected in this organizing for action organization that we kicked off of, you know, making sure the american people make their voices heard and what's happening here in washington. it was a learning process. you know, there were bumps along the way, the debt ceiling crisis with republicans refused to come to the table and compromise. we had to take it outside washington to affect change inside washington and we've been successful at that. >> jody canter also mentioned the obama are more confident, though more scarred. you were the chief of staff for the first lady during the 2008 campaign. how has the last four years changed her? some say it's changed mrs. obama more than it's changed president obama. >> i don't think that's true. i think you look, we're all human and being the president and first lady is an incredible

privilege and they appreciate that every single moment of every single day but it's also not an easy job. the first lady relishes in the things she's been able to get done. the let's move campaign has mobilized the country around keeping kids healthy. the things she's done for military families and the great concert we had last night to celebrate military families. you know, i think like anything in life, four years into it, you have a better understanding about what this is all about but still have the great excitement of what can be done. >> see more of her in the second four years? >> i think we saw a lot of her for the first four years. >> taking on more issues. you mentioned military families and combatting childhood obesity. what more would she like to take on? >> i think that's something they're talking about right now inside and something she's thinking about. certainly, i think that she has a certain golden touch with anything that she touches and being able to move something forward. you know, she's a great presence in this country and she's incredibly popular. you know, something that

everybody sees in her whether it's their mom, their sister, their co-worker, everybody relates to the first lady and that has a powerful force in getting things done. >> we all like the bangs. >> convincing all of us to cut those bangs. >> congratulations to you, as well. president obama will be sworn in for a second term within a matter of a few minutes. we'll go live to the blue room of the white house when it happens and the supreme court chief justice sonia sotomayor talks about giving the vice president his oath and being nervous about it. first, though, an inaugural flashback. >> despite subfreezing temperatures, hundreds of thousands watch the ceremonies in front of the capital. >> it's one of the dangers of having these inaugurations in

january. i mean, it's so sad that we remember william henry the fact that he gave the longest inaugural and had the shortest presidency because he insisted on not wearing a coat, it was freezing out, he developed pneumonia and he died. i think it's a good thing that they learned from harrison's inaugural that when it was freezing weather during ronald reagan's second inaugural, they finally moved it inside and canceled the parade. i'm a conservative investor. i invest in what i know. i turned 65 last week. i'm getting married. planning a life. there are risks, sure. but, there's no reward without it. i want to be prepared for the long haul. i see a world bursting with opportunities. india, china, brazil, ishares, small-caps, large-caps, ishares. industrials. low cost. every dollar counts. ishares. income. dividends. bonds. i like bonds. ishares. commodities. diversification. choices. my own ideas. ishares. i want to use the same stuff the big guys use.

ishares. 9 out of 10 large, professional investors choose ishares for their etfs. introducing the ishares core, etfs for the heart of your portfolio. tax efficient and low cost building blocks to help you keep more of what you earn. call your advisor. visit ishares.com. ishares. yeah, ishares. ishares by blackrock. call 1-800-ishares for a prospectus which includes investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses. read and consider it carefully before investing. go, go, go, go! bye sweetie. honey what are you doing? we gotta go! it's dress-like-a-president day, i'm supposed to be martin van buren. who? martin van buren! google? martin van buren. ♪

officemax can help you drive suand down.s down... use your maxperks card and get a 10-ream case of officemax multiuse paper for just 4.99 after maxperks rewards. find thousands of big deals now... at officemax. a hybrid? most are just no fun to drive. now, here's one that will make you feel alive. meet the five-passenger ford c-max hybrid. c-max says ha. c-max says wheeee. which is what you get, don't you see? cause c-max has lots more horsepower than prius v, a hybrid that c-max also bests in mpg. say hi to the all-new 47 combined mpg c-max hybrid. britta olsen is my patient. i spend long hours with her checking her heart rate, administering her medication, and just making her comfortable. one night britta told me about a tradition in denmark, "when a person dies," she said, "someone must open the window so the soul can depart."

i smiled and squeezed her hand. "not tonight, britta. not tonight." [ female announcer ] to nurses everywhere, thank you, from johnson & johnson. you're about to see history in the making. we are just minutes away from president obama taking his oath of office for his second term. we'll bring it to you, live. joe biden has been sworn in for his second term as vice president. supreme court justice sonia

sotomayor issued it at the u.s. naval observatory here in washington. let's take a look. >> please, place your hand on the bible and raise your right hand and repeat after me. i joseph r. biden jr. do solemnly swear that i will support and defend the constitution of the united states -- >> that i swill support and defend the constitution of the united states -- >> against all enemies foreign and domestic. >> against all enemies foreign and domestic. >> that bear true faith and allegiance to the same. >> that i bear true faith and allegiance to the same. >> that i take this obligation freely. >> that i take this obligation freely. >> without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion. >> and that i will well and faithfully discharge. >> and that i will well and faithfully discharge -- >> the duties of the office that

i am about to enter. >> the duties of the office that i am about to enter. >> justice sotomayor she is astonished at how much her life has changed in the past four years. cnn sole dd o'brien saturday down with her recently. >> she published her memoirs because she wanted to remember where she was from and who she was as a child. remembering her childhood in the bronx and a path that went through princeton and yale and went to the supreme court, a pact that still stuns her. >> oh, my goodness. our pleasure. your book details a lot of firsts and first latino, for example, in the supreme court, not being the least of them. you will be the first to swear in the vice president, another first for you on sunday. how are you feeling about that? >> i was thinking just a couple of days ago if i think back at

when i was a kid, which of the two events would have seen seem more improbable to me. i realized each one was so far fetched that i couldn't have imagined either. >> supreme court. >> supreme court. swearing in the vice president in front of the nation and the world. >> does it make you anxious? >> anxiety is not the word. >> what is the word? >> what it makes me feel, as if. there are many moments i still experience it, that i'm in a surreal moment. i sometimes when i'm in those really special times, i think to myself, am i dreaming? please, nobody pinch me and wake me up. and that's what i suspect i'll experience a little bit of on monday. >> how does it work? do you go home every night and memorize it, practice it in front of the mirror?

you remember there was a little bit of a mess up four years ago for the president. >> well, when you read my book, you know that i practice everything i do over and over and over again. and, so, i have been saying the oath out loud for a couple of weeks now, a couple of times a day, but i won't rely on my memory either. i'll have a card with me. i like security blankets. >> preparation and security. >> well, you have to do both things. you know, i talk in the book about being a lawyer. you have to prepare and prepare and prepare and if something unexpected happens, the playbook has to go out the window and you have to create a new one on the spot. >> she did not have to create a new one on the spot because, of course, all the preparation paid off and it went off without a hitch. justice sotomayor talks a lot and writes a lot about how affirmative action benefited her

in her life. i asked her since she writes about her own personal experiences how that will influence her in her decision eventually. she said, of course, all the decisions are based on law. it is expected for all the justices experience to shape exactly how they decide to rule in the case. let's send it back to wolf. >> soledad, thanks very much. the 20th amendment to the constitution specifically says the terms of the president and the vice president end at noon on january 20th. that's why president obama is taking the oath of office for his second term in only about five minutes. it has to be before noon. >> it has to be before noon. but it's also sunday, you probably knew that, and that complicates things a little bit. cnn's legal analyst jeffrey toobin is here to help us understand a little bit more why. >> walk us through this. why, for example, i know it's the tradition, he's being sworn in today in a few minutes within five minutes here right behind us at the white house. why can't they do the pomp and

ceremony, the speaking tomorrow, but not have another oath, another swearing-in ceremony. they have it, is that because of tradition. >> they can. it's just a matter of tradition. legally it doesn't mean anything. this is the seventh time in american history that january 20th has fallen on a sunday and the president and chief justice decided let's do the oath ceremony privately and have the party the next day. >> so that's why they're doing it today. >> correct. >> the one we're about to see is the big deal. >> this is the one that is legally significant. this is the real oath of office. >> last time around, the inauguration the swearing-in was famous for more than one reason. one of them being that the oath was flubbed a little bit. let's listen to it and i want to talk about it. >> are you prepared to take the oath, senator. >> i am. >> i, barack hussein obama, do solemnly swear. >> that i will execute the office of president to the united states faithfully.

>> that i will execute. >> faithfully the office of president of the united states faithfully. >> and will to the best of my ability. >> and will to the best of my ability. >> preserve, protect and defend the constitution of the united states. >> preserve, protect and defend the constitution of the united states. >> so help you god? >> you can see that there is a misplaced words there, but you had the opportunity to gather fascinating details of what really happened behind the scenes that led up to that. >> john roberts rehearsed that so many times at home that his wife said to him, at this point, the dog thinks it's the president. so it was not -- it was not for lack of preparation. what happened was, there was a misplaced e-mail. john roberts wrote out the oath on a card. i believe we have the card here. he divided up the segments of how he was going to do it. >> where he would pause. >> where he would pause. >> and that e-mail was sent to the congressional inaugural committee but never made it to

the president elect's office so -- there you can see it right there, the problem was in that first line. do solemnly swear. >> obama thought there would be a pause after his name. >> roberts thought it would be after do solemnly swear and it was the next line "with faithfully execute the office of the united states" that roberts so uncharacteristically became flustered and messed it up twice. they redid it in the map room of the united states the next day and see if the third time is the charm right now. >> you think they rehearsed it, went through and practiced it? >> no, they don't. >> you know john roberts. >> i do. there is no way there was a rehearsal here. >> really? >> that has not been the tradition. this is an event steeped in tradition. i am certain that the e-mail with the card was not misplaced this time. they will certainly know where the breaks are, but perhaps i'll be proven wrong. i don't think they will have rehear rehearsed. this is a one time only. >> hold on. jessica yellen our chief white house correspondent. we're only a minute or so away.

what's going on? >> hi, wolf. some of the president's family and first lady's family is already in the room that includes the first lady's brother, craig, the first -- the president's half sister mya, and the president is preparing to enter with the first lady and their two daughters and take the oath on a family bible that has been in mrs. obama's family since 1958. that bible is something that her grandmother used to lead prayer services with in a bible store that mrs. obama's grandmother managed and it's been kept in mrs. obama's family by her aunt who saved it and returned it to mrs. obama for this very purpose, for this oath today, and that bible will now be kept in the archives after this oath and this will happen in just moments. mrs. obama will be holding the bible when the president is sworn in to be -- for a second term, wolf. >> tomorrow, he'll have dr.

martin luther king, jr. bible and abraham lincoln's bible at the official public ceremony at the white house. you're looking at live pictures. we're about to go into the blue room of the united states. the president of the united states and his family, they will be there together with the chief justice of the united states, john roberts. he will administer the oath as we get ready for this historic moment. >> please raise your right hand and repeat after me. i barack hussein obama do solemnly swear. >> i barack hussein obama, do solemnly swear. >> that i will faithfully execute. >> that i will faithfully execute. >> the office of president of the united states. >> the office of president of the united states. >> and will, to the best of moo

i ability. >> and will, to the best of my ability. >> preserve, protect and defend. >> preserve, protect and defend. >> the constitution of the united states. >> the constitution of the united states. >> so help you god? >> so help me god. >> congratulations mr. president. >> thank you, mr. chief justice. thank you so much. thank you, sweetie. [ applause ] hey. thank you. >> i'm so happy. >> good job, dad. >> i did it. >> all right. thank you, everybody. come on. >> all right. you heard him say, i did it. that was perfect right there. jeffrey toobin. he looked down, the chief justice, had his notebook, note card in front of him. >> that's different. he did not have the card four years ago in either ceremony. he did it both times. >> he's famous for his memory. >> when he was an advocate at the supreme court was famous he never had a note.

>> even before the justice. >> and so i have to say i'm surprised he had the card but he made the right decision, it was flawless. >> i'm not going to criticize him for using notes. >> i think notes were a good idea. >> a good rehearsal for tomorrow's less important but highly visible ceremony. anderson this is an exciting moment for all of us. the president has now officially begun his second term as president of the united states. >> and the crowd actually behind us, probably 100 or 200 people have just stopped by, watching on a big, jumbo tron we've set up. they burst into applause when they saw and heard the president finally being sworn in. david gergen, what do you anticipate him talking about tomorrow? >> well, we have to wait and see. i do want to put in larger context what we've just seen. because this is -- the united states continues to make human history for 224 years now, we've had someone take the oath of

office peacefully, not once at the point of a gun has someone taken power in this country. that breaks all precedent in human history. it's something i think that unites us as a people and it's why it's a celebration for all of us, when the president of the united states, when barack obama, takes his term, second term oath. i really think, you know, we just need to pause and just consider that, how important that is. >> it's true. and i'm so glad you point out, the context of the history because when you think the first time he took the oath of office on the lincoln bible, the second time on his wife's family bible. his wife descendents of slaves in the american south and tomorrow will use mlk, martin luther king's bible on the day of martin luther king. >> and abraham lincoln. >> did i not say abraham lincoln in the beginning? so the journey of american history is encapsulated and the bibles the president has chosen and shows he underlines the extraordinary history. >> and it's emotional. it's emotional.